Hong Kong -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Quick question : Who is the world 's third biggest smartphone maker ?

BlackBerry ? Guess again . HTC ? Nope . It 's Huawei .

Yes , it 's a paltry 5 % of the global market , but the Chinese company that made its name selling telecom equipment is making a big push into the already crowded global smartphone market .

I saw that ambition first hand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year . Huawei ads were posted all over the airport to greet the throngs of international conference-goers . The company also occupied a huge booth at the venue positioned just across from Samsung .

But just how big does Huawei -- the smartphone maker -- want to get ?

At company headquarters in Shenzhen in southern China , I talked to Richard Yu , CEO of Huawei 's Consumer Business Group . He told me his division hopes to boost its mobile business revenue from $ 7.5 billion to $ 9 billion this year .

`` Last year , we shipped out 32 million smartphones in quantity and this year we hope we will ship out 50 to 60 million smartphones worldwide , '' he said . `` We are growing . ''

The market priority for Huawei 's Consumer Business Group is China , followed by Europe and Japan . But -- when it comes to smartphones -- it 's not ruling out the U.S. market despite the recent back and forth about Huawei 's commitment there .

In the U.S. , the name Huawei is widely regarded with suspicion . Lawmakers are worried that Huawei products can be used as a hidden channel for Chinese spies and cyber hackers -- a charge that Huawei has denied .

Despite the trust issues and the fact that many Americans ca n't even pronounce the name of the company , Huawei has sold and will continue to sell its phones in America under the Huawei brand .

`` Gradually , step by step , more and more people will trust Huawei , '' said Yu . `` I think with a brand , the most important thing is trust . ''

Huawei prides itself on its investment in research and development -- 70,000 of its 150,000 employees are in R&D -- as well as its high-end products like the $ 500 Ascend P2 , which is billed as the `` world 's fastest 4G LTE smartphone . ''

Yu told me his personal favorite is the Ascend D2 , Huawei 's $ 600 flagship smartphone that is water-resistant -- a point famously made by Yu when he posted a photo of himself swimming with the smartphone on his Sina Weibo account .

But Huawei is more widely known for its $ 100 -LRB- Y-300 -RRB- smartphone -- a cut-price device that Josh Ong of The Next Web says is the company 's competitive advantage and branding bane .

`` Huawei is going to be able to execute on smartphones at lower costs than some of its international competitors , '' he said .

`` It does n't have the cachet or consumer loyalty that Apple and Samsung do . ''

My colleague Dayu Zhang in Beijing offered this on-the-ground Chinese consumer perspective : `` To me and my friends , Huawei is more like a brand of low-end , cheap smartphones .

'' -LRB- Such -RRB- Chinese brands are popular among the ` ant tribe community , ' which refers to young people who come to the city for a better job but got stuck with low-paid jobs and high costs to live in the city . In their eyes , these Chinese smartphones are a lot cheaper than big brands like the iPhone and almost as good . ''

Huawei has a reputation for making smartphones that are just good enough . But that 's not good enough for Huawei .

To upgrade its image , the company says it will bypass expensive branding campaigns and splashy ads to focus on innovation to generate viral , word-of-mouth recommendations .

And that will take time .

`` Rome was not built in a day , '' said Yu . `` We have the ambition to be the best -- to have the best products and be the best solution provider . ''

Would you buy a Huawei smartphone ? Perhaps , if that 's what you 're after . They 're `` good enough . ''

Would you want to buy one ? Not yet .

And that 's the question Huawei has its designs on .

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China 's Huawei is now the world 's third biggest smartphone maker

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The Shenzhen-based manufacturer has designs on markets outside China

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U.S , lawmakers worry Huawei products could be hidden channel spies , hackers

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The company produces smartphones priced much lower than rivals such as Apple